Estonian PM defies Pentagon pressure to soften rhetoric on Putin

Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal said on Wednesday, Oct. 30, that he would not tone down his criticism of Russian President Vladimir Putin, pushing back against a reported US request that Baltic allies moderate their rhetoric about Russia.

Speaking to Delfi, Michal said Putin was a dictator who kills women and children and would continue doing so until forced to change course. Appeasing dictators brings humiliation without preserving freedom, he argued, adding that Estonia and its Baltic neighbours would keep warning about the Russian threat.

Michal said he had not personally received a US request to soften his language, and that the issue had not arisen when he last met President Donald Trump in Ankara during the summer.

Reuters reported that Pentagon officials had privately asked several NATO allies — including Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania — to tone down their rhetoric about Russia. Four people familiar with the discussions told Reuters the requests were made during bilateral meetings in recent weeks. Pentagon policy chief Elbridge Colby was among the officials involved. One source said Colby advised a Baltic official against poking Russia and cited descriptions of Moscow as cornered and increasingly desperate.

Michal had called Putin a rat in a corner in September, linking Russia's difficulties in Ukraine to suspected sabotage in Europe. Reuters could not establish whether Colby was referring specifically to those remarks.

The sources described the conversations as cordial. The Pentagon declined to discuss private exchanges between allies; NATO also declined to comment.

Michal noted that domestic critics accused his government of being insufficiently assertive even as reports suggested Washington wanted greater restraint.

The reported appeals to Baltic governments come as Washington reviews its military presence in Europe and presses European allies to take greater responsibility for their own defence.